KPU welding instructor recognized for excellence in teaching

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU), Cloverdale, B.C., has announced that Al Azadwinder Singh Sumal, a longtime welding instructor with 45 years of experience, has received the 2018 Howard E. Adkins Memorial Instructor Membership Award from the American Welding Society.

Sumal, who joined KPU’s faculty in 1982, is the chair of the welding and metal fabrication department in the university’s faculty of trades and technology. He leads instructors in teaching new welders, apprentices, and qualified welders who are upgrading their skills, as well as directly instructing students himself.

Beyond the curriculum, Sumal also creates programs that assist underrepresented groups to explore possible welding careers. This includes not only attending and promoting welding at skilled trades forums and high school events, but also developing programs for women, First Nations, and the welding industry. In 2017 he met with a group of refugees and interviewed each one to determine their welding skills and put together individual learning plans. Sumal also is working with a nonprofit organization in India to set up a welder and metal fabrication training program for underprivileged youth.

Engaged in provincial, national, and international program and accreditation development, Sumal currently is a provincial and national curriculum committee member, which comprises representatives from postsecondary institutes that train welders in British Columbia and across Canada. He developed and qualified numerous welding procedures for both Technical Safety BC and the private sector. He implemented and manages British Columbia's largest welder training and testing center.